NORTH ROBINSON - Last season was a down year for Colonel Crawford's football team.

After making the playoffs in 2016, the Eagles went 5-5 last year and finished fifth in the Northern 10.

All five losses, however, were by 14 points or fewer.

"We have to finish," coach Ryan Teglovic said. "We lost five games by two touchdowns or less, so we have to finish and that's the difference between one or two plays a game. A lot of that is execution, some of it is confidence. It's important to get off to a good start for us. Those things are all pretty important.

"If I had to say one thing, it's the little things. We have to tighten up on some of those little things, make sure we win turnover battles, make sure we don't give up big plays, make sure we don't have penalties. Those kinds of things if we can sure up on, I think it'll go a long way."

The Eagles return eight lettermen on offense, eight on defense and boast 19 seniors this season, up from just nine last year.

Those nine graduated seniors played pivotal roles in the team's success over the past two years, though. Hayden Bute at quarterback, Trevor Shawber at running back, Kyle Shope and Kaleb Landin out wide, kickers Spencer Mutchler and Pierce Krassow, along with Cameron Smith, Clint Erwin and Austin Stevens on both sides of the ball will be missed, but Teglovic is confident his returning players are up to the challenge of replacing them.

Dylan Knisley (32) takes over the starting role at running back.(Photo: Mike Dornbirer/Correspondent)

"We lose some impact guys, but we certainly have a larger bulk of kids back who have contributed on both sides of the ball, especially on the lines," Teglovic said. "We also have a couple skill players with two of our top-three receivers are back. I think certainly more experience — last year we only had nine seniors which is the fewest amount we've had in a while, we have 19 this year.

"I think that should help, but it's all speculation until you get out there and get on the field. We play a heck of a schedule and we play in a heck of a league."

Zye Shipman takes over for Bute after seeing brief time on the field last year — 105 yards, two touchdowns — while Colton Rowland and Dylan Knisley will lineup behind him. Knisley rushed for 190 yards and five scores last year. Out wide, Owin Seevers will be Shipman's go-to option after hauling in 27 receptions for 341 yards and four touchdowns last season.

On defense, the Eagles return 14 players who saw time on the field last year and all 11 starters are seniors.

Rowland, the team's leading tackler a year ago with 66, said the familiarity on that side of the ball will benefit the team.

"It's really good because it means we have a lot of kids coming back, so it means we already know how we need to work, we already get along and we have chemistry together," Rowland said. "It'll give us a really good defensive punch."

The main goal this year is improvement for the Eagles, especially protecting against the pass.

"Passing was a struggle for us," Rowland said. "Carey beat us, it cost us the game because Carey could throw the ball deep and our safeties and linebackers couldn't get in position, so they could beat us deep."

His goal this year is the same everyone on the team has — "playoffs."

One aspect of the team that will need to be addressed immediately if the team wants to return to the playoffs is special teams. After graduating the team's kicker and punter, the Eagles will look to a few players to fill their void.

"Kicking off we have a sophomore and a freshman, a couple brothers who have played soccer in the past who are playing football this year. Tyler and Caleb Christman will compete for the kickoff spot," Teglovic said. "For the extra point and field goals, we may have a young lady do that. Last year we had Pierce Krassow as a backup kicker and that prompted her sisters to come out this year so one of them, Drew, is pretty accurate and gets it off quick, so we're leaning towards her for the place-kicking responsibilities.

"Punting-wise, it'll most likely be Jacob Maley who could kick too, but we need to get him off the field sometimes, he's going to be an offensive starter and defensive starter."

Jacob Maley (53) will be a key contributor on both sides of the ball and punting for the Eagles.(Photo: Mike Dornbirer/Correspondent)

So far in the preseason, Teglovic is pleased with how his team has performed.

"I'm certainly not disappointed; I like what I've seen from our guys," Teglovic said. "The kids are working hard, the coaches are working hard and I think we're getting better. We definitely made some improvement between the Tuesday scrimmage and the Saturday scrimmage. I think we've seen two pretty decent opponents in Tiffin Calvert and Edison, they pushed us a little bit, which is a good thing.

"At the moment we're healthy, knock on wood, which is a good thing, so there are certainly some positives and we have some things to work on."

Week one will be a road test against a Mount Gilead team the Eagles beat 46-7 last year.

"It's game one, it's always concerning when you've never really seen live action," Teglovic said.